St. Petersburg marijuana

A St. Petersburg City Council committee asked Pinellas County officials to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, but also authorized city attorneys to draft a municipal ordinance in case the west coast Florida county does not act.

The Tampa Bay Times reports council member Steve Kornell, a school guidance counselor, proposed the city ordinance Thursday.

His proposal would allow police to give a ticket with a fine to someone possessing 20 grams or less of marijuana –about 3/4 of an ounce.

St. Petersburg Police Department attorney Sasha Lohn-McDermott recommended that any civil citation program be a countywide ordinance with “teeth” that allows police to collect data on offenders and sets deadlines for fines to be paid.

Already this year, Miami-Dade and Broward County, two of the largest population centers in the state, have given police officers the option of issuing civil citations, much like a traffic ticket, for possession of 20 grams or less of cannabis. The plant remains on the federal dangerous drug list as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. By definition, that means the federal government still insists that marijuana is as dangerous as heroin and LSD and like those drugs, has no demonstrable medical use.